Chapter 1

There are two people I want to send a huge thank you to and hugs.

Aunt Bran, the awesome woman who is my beta for this story. Bless her, she has her work cut out for her and does a marvelous job of making sense of my ramblings.

OTB, who created the awesome banner for the story. The girl is talented beyond belief.

Once upon a time in the far off land of Chicago, Illinois lived a lonely confused girl. Her mother passed away when she was little. With no family to truly speak of, she went in and out of the foster family system. She roamed to different homes and families, she never fit in well with others. They gave her shelter and food but never a real home. She spent her days dreaming what it would be like to have just one person who cared for her and loved her in every single way possible.

Until one day she arrived in Barbara's care. There she had a stable home life with the kindest woman she had ever met. She considered the woman to be a second mother, as close to a family member as she had. But, tragedy struck her life once again. After Barbara was gone from this earth, a young girl set off to the big city to build a life for herself. It was far from perfect but she made the most of it. I knew all of this because it was me. This isn't how my story ended, it was only the beginning of it.

With a hot cup of coffee in hand I stood in line to swipe my pass. The others made idle chatter while I usually remained quiet with nothing to add to the their conversation. They had their fun filled weekend to talk about, I didn't. Mostly, I focused on work then went home to my empty apartment. I'd never been a social butterfly nor had many friends.

"Morning, Bella." From behind the glass, she gave me the daily friendly greeting. She made a point to do it with each person who passed by her. Little did she know, it was my interaction for the day with another person.

"Morning."

First, I pulled all the patients files to start my rounds. Life and death moved swiftly around you as a nurse. Some would make it out of here, while others never stood a chance to get past the securely locked steel doors. They would never feel the warmth of the sun on their face ever again.

John Doe's file was on top. They wrote him off as a lost cause a long time ago. Without a word spoken from him since he arrived at the hospital, we didn't know what his real name was. However, I felt a connection with him I just couldn't shake. Almost as though I met him before but couldn't place where or when. A closeness which couldn't be explained.

"Good morning, John."

Of course, he didn't answer me because he couldn't. Just like every other day. I pushed the curtains wide open as I could. He would feel the sun on his face until the day, he no longer existed to this world. Which, was only days from now. The court would rule on his future fate soon.

"How about a bath? Would you like that? Of course you would."

John was brought to the secure floor of the hospital after he went completely comatose. They had all kinds of theories of what was wrong with him. But, none of them could be explained medically. He was the mystery man of the hospital.

Numerous time, I set and read over his files. The doctor deemed him dangerous, mentally unstable and waste to society. None of it made complete sense to me. I understood why they believed him to be on the crazy side. He insisted he was from another time long ago, he was a warrior. With the brute strength of two men when he hurt the orderlies who tried to restrain him. Shortly afterwards, he showed no signs of life left in him.

The sponge couldn't wash away all his scars. Those were his battle scars according to him anyway. The deep wounded marks were all over his large body frame. Once I finished his bath and put him in a new hospital gown. I comb his long blonde hair. Then trimmed his beard close to his face. The first time I done it, it was long and bushy. His face was to handsome to be hidden under all that hair.

"Bella." The other nurse startled me. Or I guess interrupted the conversion we were having, mostly I was having with him.

"Yes."

"You put way too much effort into someone who will be taken off life support next week."

It was official now. John Doe would no longer exist as of next week. A sudden sadness crossed over me. There was something special about him I couldn't get past. "I'm just doing my job."

"Honey, you have to learn to distance yourself from the patients here. Otherwise, it will be nothing but heartache." With a friendly smile on my face and a simple nod to acknowledge what she had said. I left her to update his file when I chocked down the emotions as they came to the surface.

For the rest of the morning, I thought about him. Did he have a family who missed him? Perhaps a wife or girlfriend who was out looking for him? He was someone's child, they had to miss him from their life. Or maybe, he was like me. No one missed him at all. No one cared enough to even notice he was gone.

At lunch, in the cafeteria, I seen the nurse that was on duty when John came to the hospital. I didn't know her well. Yet, it was something I just had to do. "Hi, I'm Bella. Do you mind if I sit with you?"

"Sure."

She was a pleasant person to be around and didn't seem to mind my questions. But, what I learned about him left me even more confused. He was in search of Snow White when he barged through the doors. He rambled on how she was the one to save the world from darkness. A dark haired beauty with the purest heart.

"There was one thing about him that stood out the most to me. The clothes he wore weren't of common material. His pants, shirt and vest were cobbled together from scraps of material and leather. The way he talks is off. He had all these primal weapons attached around him. At first, he wasn't aggressive with us. It all changed once they tried to restrain him."

"What happened the day he went comatois?"

"Well, you probably won't believe this. He said that morning the evil queen was here. He could smell her and begged me to free him. So he could fight her off. He also talked about spells and being woke from it by a kiss from the one who has the purest heart."

"Thanks, maybe we can have lunch again sometime."

For the next week I pondered on John Doe. Some would say I was obsessed with him. With the knowledge he didn't have much longer on this earth, I spent every second with him I could.

"Good evening, Bella. Are you working the night shift?" This was where it got tricky. If I said no, she wouldn't have to allowed me access to the secured area. If I said yes, it was a blatant lie.

"Yes, I am." After I swiped my badge, she waved me through the locked doors.

Every step I took, I looked behind me. I hadn't done anything to be paranoid about. At least, not yet. I closed the door to his room before anyone seen me.

"I don't even know why I am here. Tomorrow...tomorrow they are going to unplug you from the machine. If you don't wake up now, it's over for you." I took John's hand in mine. "Please, wake up."

There was no response from him, not even a muscle twitch. I let a long sigh and let go of him. To my surprise, his hand moved slightly on the bed. Not that it could move much with the leather band cuffs he had on. They anchored him to the bed with them, as a precaution.

It was a strict hospital policy to never free a patient from them without the doctor and orderlies present. However, I ignored the rule. With the key inserted, I paused. This meant the job I worked so hard to get if I was wrong. It also meant, he would suffer a useless death if I was right. The long debate in my head went on as I turned the key. Then I undone the other side.

"Here goes nothing."

Slowly I pressed my lips to his. A spark was ignited inside me from it. The tingle in my lips continued even after we parted. The thunder clashed outside the window with a bright flash of lightening. Only there wasn't a cloud in the sky when I came in. It was a bright moon with even brighter stars shinning in the night. As his eyes opened slowly, I backed away from the bed.

Each step he took towards me, I took one backwards away from him. Until I was pressed against the wall and could go no farther. From the pocket of my scrubs. I had the canister in hand and wasn't afraid to use it. "I have mace."

His head turned slightly at my warning. "What is this mace thou speaks of?"

"If you come any closer to me. You will find out what it is."

Although, the threat, didn't slow him down any at all. Just as I was ready to pepper him with it. He dropped to one knee on the floor. Brought the fist he made to his heart. "I am thees humble servant."

Well, I couldn't say he was very modest. His junk peaked out of the gown and it didn't bother him at all. I could understand when he didn't know I looked at it but now, he was practically whipping it out there for me to see.

"I must get to the dark forest." With the rise from the floor, he wobbled a bit. Stumbled his way to the bed for support.

"You are in no condition to go anywhere."

"I must go."

Crazy was, as crazy done. At this point I thought my own mental health was brought in to question. The more I heard him, I totally believed what he said. Why? I had no fucking clue.

"Lay down on the bed." He tensed up when I asked. There was no way I could over power him or force him to. "You said you are my servant. Lay down on the bed." Once he done what I instructed, he pulled away from me when I went to secure him again with the cuffs.

"If you want to go to the dark forest. You have to trust me. This is the only way for me to get you out of here."

We were busting out of this joint. There were just a few hurdles to get past. The first was coming up soon. With his chart in hand and his face in sleep mode. "I'm taking John Doe down stairs for tests." She didn't even hesitate to push the button to freedom.

When the elevator doors opened, I knew we were halfway there. I couldn't exactly waltz him out of the hospital through the front doors. It was after hours at the morgue. It would become our escape route.

"Stay here and don't move until I come back." Before I even made it out the door he had freed himself from the bed. Broke the leather cuffs off at the chain. "Oh shit. Just stay her and be quiet."

Quickly I went to the parking lot and got the truck. Drove around to the back entrance. I swiped my pass to get back inside. What I found was a sight. "What the hell are you doing?"

The naked bodies laid on the cold steel slabs without the sheets covering them. They were strung around the room. As soon as I would cover one back up, he had another uncovered.

"I am in search for my trousers."

"This is a morgue. Show a little respect."

"What is this morgue thou speaks of?"

We didn't have time for this crap. I hurried him out the back door to the truck. It would be a couple of hours before they realized I took John Doe from the hospital. They then would alert the police to what I had done. We would both probably be in jail by tomorrow and it wouldn't matter much anyway.

The longer the thought ran threw my mind, the tighter the grip on the steering wheel. Until my knuckles were white. "Maybe, I should have thought this through better. Fuck, maybe I am the one who is crazy."

"What is this fuck thou speaks of?"

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